Problem: Subtract. $18 - 9.6 =$
Answer: There are many ways to solve this problem. Let's see two ways we can solve it. Place Value We can think in terms of tenths: $\begin{aligned} &\phantom{=}18-9.6\\\\ &=18.0-9.6\\\\ &=180\text{ tenths} - 96\text{ tenths}\\\\ &=84\text{ tenths}\\\\ &=8.4 \end{aligned}$ Place value table Let's line up the numbers by their decimal places. Tens Ones $.$ Tenths $1$ ${8}$ $.$ ${0}$ $9$ $.$ ${6}$ Now, let's subtract each place value column. Tens Ones $.$ Tenths $\overset{0}{\cancel{{1}}}$ $\overset{17}{\cancel{{8}}}$ $.$ $\overset{10}{\cancel{{0}}}$ $-$ ${9}$ $.$ ${6}$ $\underline{~~~~}$ $\underline{~~~~}$ $\underline{~~~~}$ $\underline{~~~~}$ $8$ $.$ $4$ $18 - 9.6=8.4$